The use of ultrasound imaging methods have become increasingly popular in medical diagnosis because it is non-invasive, easy to use, and does not generally subject patients to the risks associated with electromagnetic radiation. In typical conventional ultrasound systems, sound waves of very high frequency (around 2 MHz to 10 MHz) are transmitted into a patient, and the echoes reflected from structures inside the patient's body are processed to derive and display information relating to such structures.
The 3-dimensional ultrasound (“3DUS”) image of a body part that is captured by a probe may cover a certain area/volume; in some instances, it may be desirable to be able to obtain a 3DUS image that covers a larger area with the same detail. Therefore, there is an advantage in providing a technique by means of which two 3DUS images of a patient's body part may be combined or stitched together into a single 3DUS image having a greater field of view.